First to 35-0: Wichita State cruises past Cal Poly

Early leads Shockers with 23 points, including big first half

Wichita State forward Cleanthony Early grabs a rebound in the first half of Friday's NCAA Tournament first round game against Cal Poly. Early carried the Shockers with 19-first half points and 23 for the game (9-of-15 shooting) as WSU won 64-37 and passed the 1991 UNLV team as the only other squad to go 34-0.

Wichita State forward Cleanthony Early celebrates a 3-pointer in the first half of Friday's NCAA Tournament first round game against Cal Poly. Early had 19 of his 23 points in the first half to jump start the Shockers to a 64-37 victory.

Wichita State forward Cleanthony Early celebrates after a timeout was called during Friday's game against Cal Poly at the Scottrade Center. Early carried the Shockers with 19-first half points and 23 for the game (9-of-15 shooting) in WSU's 64-37 victory.

Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall gives instruction during Friday's NCAA Tournament first round game against Cal Poly. His Shockers cruised to a 64-37 victory and passed the 1991 UNLV team as the only other squad to go 34-0.

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ST. LOUIS — A record — 35-0 to be exact — unmatched in NCAA Division I men’s basketball history.

Behind a dominating offensive game from Cleanthony Early, the Shockers accomplished something that had never been done before Friday evening at Scottrade Center as they remained undefeated in cruising past NCAA tourney newbie Cal Poly, 64-37, at Scottrade Center.

It was the largest margin of victory for Wichita State in NCAA tourney history.

Early, who averaged 15.8 points this season, carried the Shockers with 19-first half points and 23 for the game (9-of-15 shooting) as WSU passed the 1991 UNLV team as the only other squad to go 34-0.

“I just felt like these games could potentially be your last,” said Early, a senior. “And I try to go out there and play as hard as possible because I do want to win.”

The Shockers, after trailing 3-0 and being up 6-5, went on a 15-0 run to put the game away early. Up 21-5 with 7:57 to play in the first half and 30-10 at the 2:45 mark, WSU led 32-13 at the half. The 13 points were the fifth-lowest total by a team in one half of a D-I game this season and the lowest allowed by the Shocks all season.

“To hold a team under 40 is a great accomplishment, especially a team that won their league,” Wichita state coach Gregg Marshall said. “These guys get in their stance and guard. That’s what we ask them to do for 35 seconds (each possession).”

For Cal Poly (14-20), a team that had played five games in eight days and had traveled from California to Ohio to Missouri, it was the end of an historic road in its first NCAA tourney appearance. After becoming the first 19-loss team in 59 years to win a tourney game, the worst team in the tournament fizzled against the best record-wise.

The school, with alumni that include Ozzie Smith, John Madden and Weird Al Yankovich, shot 14.3 percent in the first half and 20.7 for the game. Worse, it was just 5 of 28 from 3-point range. The Mustangs’ five starters scored 18 points in the entire game on 6-of-36 shooting, including 3 of 18 from trey.

“As the (shot) clock goes under 10, they don’t gamble, they are going to keep you in position,” Cal Poly coach Joe Callero said.

After a dominating first half, the Shocks came out on a 12-4 run to begin the second. While Cal Poly got the margin down to 20 at nine minutes left in the game, it trailed by a game-high 30 with 3:59 left.

Callero said the Shockers look the part of a NCAA title contender.

“Every bit of it,” said Callero, calling WSU’s attention and focus on both ends “as good as there is in basketball.

“The thing about Wichita State that I think what we want to emulate most in our program is they very, very rarely take any plays off.”

While Early, who had seven boards and was the only player in the game in double-digit scoring and did so in just 19 minutes played, 10 Shockers scored, and six of them had at least five points. Chadrack Lufile had eight points and five boards, and Ron Baker added seven points and a season-high nine boards. Fred VanVleet had a game-high nine assists. The central coast California team was led by Malik Love’s nine points off the bench.

NOTES

■ WSU's 35 wins rank fourth on the NCAA single victory list for a season.

■ Wichita State was coming a 12-day break, and Marshall said he has recently cut the practices down to an hour maximum because the Shocks have been so focused and sharp.

■ It’s the third straight year a Missouri Valley team has won opening round game in NCAA Tournament.

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Great season for the Shockers. But now they play Kentucky and while the Wildcats are having somewhat of a down year, they are still Kentucky and still tough. It will be Wichita State's first true test of the season. I think the Shockers will win....however, it would not surprise me one bit if Kentucky comes out on top.

Here's hoping the Shocks get a fair deal from the officials. The media clearly wanted Kentucky to be in this game, so it will be interesting to see how consistently calls are made. Calipari is a master at working the officials, a la Bill Self.

to win their first round game. This season has proved beyond any doubt that Wichita will not let down against the run-of-the-mill teams. They pounded MVC teams almost every time. They are not going to choke IMO. I picked two brackets this year - WSU in the Final 4 in one and E-8 in the other. Someone is going to have to straight beat them. A loss won't be because they made a bunch of mistakes.